Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is a formalized approach to developing cyber-physical systems (CPS), enabling traceability of system requirements throughout all phases of the product lifecycle. A significant challenge in MBSE lies in the integration of discipline-specific simulations, such as Topology Optimization (TO), into system architectures. TO simulations are essential for optimizing material distribution in structural components (SCs), considering factors such as loads, material properties, and manufacturing constraints. However, defining the initial design space, particularly for complex designs, is an iterative and creative process, complicating its integration into MBSE. This paper proposes a method to seamlessly integrate TO simulations into system architectures by linking specific SC characteristics to the various stages of TO simulation. This integration enhances the reuse of TO models across multiple components and manufacturing processes, such as tailored fiber placement of composites, casting, among others. A case study on the development of SCs demonstrates the effectiveness of this framework, showcasing how integrating TO within MBSE can improve efficiency, reduce complexity, and facilitate the design of lightweight, optimized systems.

The automation of product development is increasingly enabled by agents, which extend large language models (LLMs) from requirements engineering to computer-aided engineering (CAE). An agent can be understood as an LLM embedded in a software harness that provides tools, memory, execution loops, and feedback channels. Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) maintains the system architecture and may therefore provide an important source of context and state for such agents. This scoping review investigates which artifacts provide context and maintain state in the reported approaches, and whether the MBSE system architecture is among them. A systematic search of arXiv, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Web of Science on 1 August 2026 covered three search areas: MBSE and agents, MBSE and CAE, and agents and CAE. Of 14 584 records published from 2022 onward, title and abstract screening retained 495, of which 329, available in full text, were classified along the dimensions of their search area. Screening and classification were carried out by an LLM under author-defined criteria and closed vocabularies, reported along the PRISMA-trAIce checklist, and every evidence passage was verified against the full text. The review positions the MBSE system architecture within the agent harness and identifies how far the literature supports this role.

Multi-axis fused-filament fabrication (FFF) expands the design space of polymer components by enabling spatially oriented filament paths. Existing stress-aligned deposition methods can align paths with principal stress directions, but they provide limited guidance for selecting local deposition strategies in mechanically critical regions where loads are introduced, transmitted, redirected, supported, or constrained. This paper proposes a functional region-based method for deriving reusable local deposition-design rules. The method identifies the local structural context and governing load-transfer mechanism in a representative bolted bracket and abstracts these regions into compression, open-hole tensile, and bearing-response benchmarks. The compression benchmark is evaluated experimentally. Candidate deposition strategies for the open-hole tensile and bearing-response benchmarks undergo qualitative comparative screening using an FEM model with the Tsai–Wu failure-initiation index. Selected configurations are further evaluated through physical testing on multi-axis FFF specimens. The physical tests show that continuous load-transmitting paths are favorable in the investigated open-hole and bearing-response cases, whereas adding local offset reinforcement did not automatically improve the tested configurations. The resulting deposition-design rules were applied to a representative load-bearing bracket, which reached 3.89 kN and provided component-level transfer-feasibility evidence under the investigated conditions.